OrthoPundit – The Next Chapter

What started as fun experiment has grown to become be the premier resource for quality content on every aspect of practicing orthodontics. This should be a good thing, but as it always does, success creates its own set of issues. The biggest being that I’m constantly asked how I insure that general dentists don’t have access to OrthoPundit content. The simple answer is that I currently have no way of controlling who sees what I post and this reality has been universally met with displeasure from dental specialists. Periodontists, Oral Surgeons and Orthodontists have regularly presented me with “evidence” that PCDs in their area are reading and utilizing OrthoPundit content and demanding that I do something about it. As it stands, I cannot.

Also, I’m getting daily requests (some on the verge of being demands) for more detailed videos of phone scripting, appointment scripting, compliance scripting, clinical procedure protocol, new patient process, financing, marketing, community relations, etc. While I appreciate the enthusiasm and hunger for more info, I’m not sure these folks realize what it takes to put all this together and see a full schedule of patients.

On the upside, I also get massive amounts of positive feedback about how useful the OrthoPundit is. Residents, recent graduates and even seasoned veterans enjoy the progressive and pragmatic approach to the pressing issues of our profession and aren’t shy to say so. And this is what it’s all about and why I spend the time and effort I do on OrthoPundit. I wish I’d had access to something like this a decade ago when I was new in practice.

And now to the point. After weighing all the input and measuring the desires of the readership, I’ve decided to restructure OrthoPundit in an attempt to give the marketplace what it desires while making the demands on my time reasonable. The changes are as follows:

An annual subscription to OrthoPundit.com will be $500 a year. Henceforth, I will take requests from subscribers in good standing as to what topics to cover and do my best to produce and publish the requested content. I will do many more videos for use in doctor and staff training detailing the specifics of how we do things in our offices and why. I’ll do a lot more clinical/treatment posts and staff training pieces and include greater detail than I have in the past. OrthoPundit subscribers will be eligible for product, service and meeting discounts as and when they arise. I get lots of offers from companies for this kind of preferential pricing but it’s just too much effort to do for a free site.

I’ve had a lot of fun churning out the content over the last year and a half. I love to share what I’ve learned the hard way and have an endless cornucopia of topics old and new to draw from. But I’ll readily admit that I don’t enjoy the administration necessary to handle something this large and complex. Putting up a paywall will allow me to hire an administrator to handle that end of the website and to continue to produce the content that’s made OrthoPundit so popular. The $9.61 a week that I ask of subscribers will allow the site to grow, change and make it possible to control who has access to OrthoPundit.com

Life’s an adventure and I’m interested to see how the next chapter will play out.